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Himself and I both work from home.  Well, Himself works from home and I work for myself but when I’m not at the clinic there’s an extraordinary amount of admin that needs to be done and this is primarily done from home.

A lot of people think that this is living the dream, and indeed in many ways it is.  But working from home is hard to do because there is nobody there keeping an eye on you, clearing their throats when your productivity is low, gently (or not so gently) nudging you to tell you that maybe you’ve spent a bit too much time surfing the internet.  It takes a while to find a routine, to find discipline in the sudden freedom that you have – and believe me when you’ve worked in law for years, when you’ve had to log every minute of your day, that freedom is almost too much.

As our situation is in flux right now, I thought I would share a few tips that have helped us over the last few years, before everything is different and I forget them. So just in case you’re about to find yourself self-employed or working from home, read on!

1.  Find yourself a space to work. This is the number one priority for working from home.  Try to find yourself a dedicated space to work, even if it’s just a small desk in the corner of your living room, and make that work space as beautiful and as inspirational (and as tidy) as you can.  Doubling the dining table up as an office just doesn’t work.  It means that your job is right there in your face all the time.  We ended up turning the spare bedroom into an office for Himself (he has several computers etc and needs the space) and I’ve taken a small cupboard bedroom for my desk and yoga mat.  It means when we have guests we have to book them into a nearby hotel but it’s all about priorities!

2. Set yourself working hours. There is a tendency when working for yourself or from home to start checking emails immediately upon getting up and carrying on from there.  Set yourself reasonable working hours and stick to them, otherwise your job will take over your whole life.  What these hours will be are dependent on a) what you do and b) what hours you are at your brightest (I’m an afternoon person, Himself is a morning person).  It will be hit and miss to start with while your work them out but once you’ve got them, stick to them!

3. Get up, get dressed, eat breakfast. Don’t be tempted to work in your pyjamas.  It’ll be lunchtime before you get showered and you’ll feel horrible for it.  Act exactly as you would if you had to go in to an office.

4. Turn off wi-fi. Have certain set hours during your working day when you turn off your wi-fi.  This way you can’t be distracted by social media and incoming emails.  How many hours you have offline will again depend upon what you do, Himself needs to check his emails far more often than I do, but do try to take that time offline, especially when you need to get your head down on a big project.

5. Twitter is your office mates. Conversely you will never need social media so much as when you work at home alone!  You’ll be surprised how much you miss the office banter (even though when you were in the office you hated it so) and it’s easy to become isolated.  Pick your Twitter and Facebook friends carefully and check in with them a few times a day.  It sounds crazy but it can keep you sane!

A final point for any couple who, like us, both work from home.  Learn to leave each other alone! Don’t be tempted to bother each other with household minutae during those hours reserved for work.  Remember, you’re meant to be behaving as though you’d gone into the office.  Ask yourself, would you phone them at work for this question or leave it until they got home?

Any other tips from my fellow home-workers?

Today’s big announcement folks, in case you missed it on Facebook or Twitter is…..

….the new website is up, ready and raring to go.

Go and have a look here!

There were a few hiccups, logos disappearing, pages turning mysteriously blank, but all seems well now.

So what can you do now?  Well you can sign up to the monthly newsletter for special offers and free podcasts (NB: if you were signed up to the old Exploring Yoga newsletter you will already be signed up to this), you can subscribe to the blog (I’ll be uploading a post every Wednesday lunchtime, so keep your eyes peeled!), you can join the Facebook Group, you can buy a podcast, you can even, if you are a client of mine, pay for all your classes and treatments on line!

Now go on, spread the word (and do please let me know if you spot a typo or a missing link!)

Back in my previous life when I worked in a big American law firm in London I used to buy my lunch and snacks every day. This used to involve too much coffee, too many processed foods, way too much packaging and a lot of money.  When I look back on it I’m quite shocked at how much I used to spend.  To buy a sandwich, a small snack (like a granola bar), a fruit salad and a juice in central London cost about £5 a day.  And then there would be a couple of Starbucks coffees and a croissant.  We’re talking nearly £10 a day, that’s £50 a week, on lunch!  Not particulary nice lunch either.  Lunch that wasn’t very good for me, full of secret fattening ingredients and preservatives.  Not to mention all that plastic packaging that I threw away every day.

Dear Earth and Bank Account.  I am truly sorry.  Love, Me.

Anyway those days are behind me.  Now I have a nifty little Bento Box.

I got this lunchbox from Laptop Lunches.  I think this is the child’s size (I don’t eat very big portions) but you can get bigger ones.  The website is great and has a nice little blog with loads of lunch ideas.

I’m a particular fan of the bento box because it means you can take a variety of food to work with you without it all spilling out or mingling with adjacent foods (I should point out at this stage that one of the bigger sections has a lid for food with sauces), and it comes with a little cutlery set.  The containers are microwavable should you want to take something to heat up. It means you can take something a little bit more interesting than sandwiches.  However, if you do want to take sandwiches you can take some of the little boxes out to make space!  And there’s no waste!  And it’s dishwasher proof!  And it fits in my bike basket!  Plus it comes with a recipe book – genius eh?!

Have I mentioned I’m a huge fan?  I’m not even getting paid to write this either!

I tend to take the previous evening’s meal with me to work.  I always make a little bit extra for lunch.  Pasta dishes, curries, stir frys, salads all work.  This particular taste combo that you see in the picture is cous cous and a sort of vegetable tangine (recipe below) with a handful of pretzels and half a mango on the side.  That along with a couple of pieces of fruit is perfect for me (there is space for a pieces of chocolate or two down the side as well – not that I would ever sneak chocolate in my lunch )

Quick Vegetable Tangine (serves 3)
Chop up one onion, a few mushrooms and one red pepper and gently fry in a drop of olive oil over a medium heat for a couple of minutes.
Add one tin of chopped tomatoes and one tin of drained chickpeas.
Add a teaspoonful of Bart Ras El Hanout Spice Blend (or any other spices you like)
Allow to simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the sauce has started to reduce
Serve with cous cous and maybe a green salad.

What are your lunchtime favourites? Do you take lunch to work?